"Morning Joe" Goes From Covering News To Becoming The News- Updated

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 9:10am

No, I'm not referring to the infamous Trump Tweet yesterday about Mika bleeding from a face lift, and the resultant uproar, I'm referring to what their response to that tweet on "Morning Joe" this morning revealed - that they had been told by "three people at the top of the White House" to either apologize to Donald Trump for their unflattering coverage or face the consequences of a National Enquirer expose.

Why Morning Joe hosts think Trump keeps attacking them: Blackmail

“We got a call that, hey, the ‘National Enquirer’ is going to run a negative story against you guys. And it was, the president is friends with the guy that runs the ‘National Enquirer.’ And they said, ‘If you call the president up and you apologize for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone and basically spike this story,’” Scarborough said. “I had – I will just say -- three people at the very top of the administration calling me, and the response was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

“The calls kept coming, and kept coming. And they were like ‘Call, you need to call. Please call. Come on, Joe. Just pick up the phone and call him,’” Scarborough said, adding that they were calling his teenage daughters and close friends as well. “It’s blackmail.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/latest-news/article158991914.html#storylink=cpy

This should have legs. This has nothing to do with Russia and collusion - this has to do with the Trump administration threatening and intimidating two media people for their commentary with a specific threat - apologize or read about yourselves in the National Enquirer (paraphrase).

I don't have any idea of what any actual charge against anyone would be - abuse of power, intimidation, extortion, whatever, but this behavior is clearly beyond the pale. I would expect that there would be some Congressional or prosecutorial investigation and follow-up to this. I think Joe and Mika will be asked to name names in the near future and I think they should. This isn't protecting journalistic sources, this is revealing who allowed themselves to be used as intermediaries and communicators of a threat. It's possible that some of these go-betweens meant their messages benignly and with good intent - i.e. a behind the scenes tip-off, but that's to be determined. Aside from that, the messages contain a specific quid pro quo - you do this and he'll do that.

I have to believe that Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are experienced enough and savvy enough in the ways of both politics and the media to understand completely the can of worms they just unleashed on Trump and his administration and naturally, on themselves as well.

UPDATE: in the interest of clarity, it should be noted that the Enquirer part of this story as related by Joe, appears to be something that happened in the past, and not directly part of the Mika bleeding face-lift brouhaha of the last day. Which means that Joe and Mika stayed silent in the face of this intimidation (as far as we know at this point)although they didn't knuckle under to it (as far as we know at this point.)

UPDATE 2:
Trump, Kushner never blackmailed Scarborough, source says

According to this, the contact was initiated by Scarborough, soliciting Kushner's opinion/assistance about an upcoming negative article in The National Enquirer and he was told to appeal to Trump directly, most likely necessitating an apology before any aid in squashing the story would be rendered (paraphrase of events).

This is diametrically opposed to the sequence of events as related by Scarborough which had the contact originating from the White House with an offer of kiboshing the story in return for some groveling and forelock-tugging.

Until and if this is thoroughly looked at under a microscope, it comes down to who do you believe and who has greater credibility in this story? Just like Trump vs Comey, neither side can claim to have an unsullied track record for believability.

In my own case, I am far more prone to believe Scarborough, simply because he has always been a cautious sort of "on the other hand" kind of commentator, who usually tries to have his toast buttered on both sides. It's kind of hard for me to believe that he would trash his own show and reputation with such a consequential accusation unless he felt like he had irrefutable evidence of events that could be verified by others.

The most pressing question for him would be - why did you sit on this story if it happened as you describe? I don't know the answer to that question, but would presume that before making an accusation like that that he would confer with both his employers (some of whom are witnesses to the events as well) and probably lawyers as well given Trump's well known litigiousness.

Trump on the other hand has a limited history for truthfulness and accuracy, likewise his spokespeople. I am always waiting for them to be transformed into croaking frogs almost every time they speak and am frankly more astonished every time it doesn't happen than I would ever be if it did.

Tags:

#Trump

#Morning Joe

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Comments

Submitted by riverlover on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 9:24am

I believe Joe and Mika communicate well together

The network may be more intimidated than they are now. But calling Joe's kids? That is a threat. What a child we have in Trump.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 9:32am

Let's start a pool

The three mutts I think are that stupid are 1) Bannon; 2) Spicer; and, 3) Priebus

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 9:46am

They (the 'three people at the top') know who they are

@Amanda Matthews
and presumably Trump knows who they are since they are transmitting the terms of an agreement that involves an action by him. They'll all be giving each other the side-eye, wondering which one of them cracks first or conversely, giving each other secret 'solidarity' handshakes.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:26am

Trust me, I know Trump's tiny paw prints are all over this BUT

@Phoebe Loosinhouse
I don't think the tools who actually did the dirty will ever say so. These whacks are not only fighting for Tiny Paws, they're fighting for their own positions as well. They're going to fight tooth and nail and cover cover cover. For many of these creeps Trump is the only way they could have this much power and influence.

Just like Clinton acolytes, telling the truth is not an option.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:29am

But if this comes under scrutiny

@Amanda Matthews

which I believe it will, simply based on the coverage that is starting to geometrically expand even as we speak, Joe Scarborough says he has texts and phone records that prove his story. IMO, the White House participants will inevitably be revealed, and they are all probably on the phone to their lawyers as we speak.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by FuturePassed on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:27am

We start a fair and balanced pool

@Amanda Matthews
and YOU get the first picks? Ha! I want Bannon.

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 1:41pm

I'll take Kushner (but I'm cheating)...

@FuturePassed

Jared Kushner Told Joe Scarborough: Talk to President Trump About ‘Enquirer’ Dirt

http://www.thedailybeast.com/jared-kushner-told-joe-scarborough-talk-to-...

I didn't include him in my original three. I didn't think he was this farking STUPID!

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by Steven D on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:07am

If Trump ordered this

It's an impeachable offense. Extortion is a high crime in my book.

—

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Submitted by Steven D on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:10am

If they really want Trump out

@Steven D This is the way, not Russia!!!!!

But my guess is the Dems don't really want him out since they intend to run against him in the midterms. They'd rather drag out the open ended Russian investigation with Mueller, than go after Trump for all the other things which would justify impeachment.

—

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 12:57pm

The Dems don't really have a choice

@Steven D @Steven D @Steven D

If they don't align with ousting Trump (and/or) his associates for allegedly intimidating and threatening the media,and allegedly literally blackmailing two specific commentators with one specific threat, then they would just confirm the unflattering general perception of them as ethically lacking and guided in every instance by political expediency.

(edited to add "and/or" and "allegedly") since the entire story isn't out yet

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by Chaddiwicker on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 12:35pm

@Steven D According to Lawrence

@Steven D According to Lawrence Tribe on Twitter, this is the relevant statute for the crime Donald Trump allegedly (*cough*) committed:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/872

18 U.S. Code § 872 - Extortion by officers or employees of the United States
US Code

Whoever, being an officer, or employee of the United States or any department or agency thereof, or representing himself to be or assuming to act as such, under color or pretense of office or employment commits or attempts an act of extortion, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; but if the amount so extorted or demanded does not exceed $1,000, he shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 740; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, § 24(b), 65 Stat. 720; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(G), (K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 606(a), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3511.)

Submitted by riverlover on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 1:24pm

Does that seem like a slap on the hand?

@Chaddiwicker Small gains, anyway.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by Chaddiwicker on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 2:27pm

@riverlover It's a white collar

@riverlover It's a white collar crime, of course it's a slap on the hand.

Submitted by mimi on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:11am

And what about Greta van Susteren?

well, she got fired or fired herself or obeyed her scientology friends or what?

MSNBC fires Greta Van Susteren, replaces her with liberal host - Published June 29, 2017 - Fox News
or
Greta Van Susteren out at MSNBC after six months - by Tom Kludt @tomkludt June 29, 2017: 6:13 PM ET

ok, her Wikipedia page reveals:

During coverage of the O. J. Simpson murder trial, she appeared regularly on CNN as a legal analyst.[14] This led to her stint as co-host of CNN's Burden of Proof and The Point.

Van Susteren made a special celebrity guest appearance on the Cartoon Network original series Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 1998.

In 2002, Van Susteren switched to the Fox News Channel after a highly publicized contract-bidding war. She hosted the current affairs show On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren.

In 2012, an orphanage and school opened in Haiti called The Greta Home and Academy, which Greta and her husband helped found alongside Samaritan's Purse.

In 2014, Van Susteren criticized a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas, Dwayne Stovall, who was challenging two-term incumbent John Cornyn in the primary election on March 4, 2014, after Stovall ran an advertisement calling Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Cornyn's superior in the Senate leadership, an ineffective "Beltway turtle." Until the controversial advertisement, the media had largely ignored Stovall's candidacy. Van Susteren called Stovall a "jerk" for running the ad: "You can be clever and funny in ads ... or you can be gratuitously insulting."[15]

On September 6, 2016, she resigned from Fox News. She was not able to say goodbye on-air, as the network immediately filled the On the Record anchor spot with Brit Hume. Van Susteren, who said that Fox "has not felt like home to me for a few years," chose to take advantage of a clause in her contract that allowed her to resign from the network immediately: "The clause had a time limitation, meaning I could not wait."[16]

In early 2017, Van Susteren signed on with NBC News to anchor the 6 p.m. ET program on its 24-hour cable news channel, MSNBC. The program, titled For the Record with Greta, launched on January 9, 2017.[1

but more important this may be:

Personal life

Van Susteren married tort lawyer John P. Coale in 1988.[18] Coale, a self-described "ambulance chaser," became known as "Bhopal Coale" for his solicitation of clients among victims of the Bhopal disaster.[19] He has served as an adviser for Sarah Palin.[20]

Van Susteren and her husband are members of the Church of Scientology.[18][21]

From August 2006 until January 2014, she was a co-owner of the Old Mill Inn, a restaurant in Mattituck, New York, on the North Fork of Long Island.[22][23]

And now she is what? For the Record: She is not one of the "most powerful women in the world"? as someone said somewhere in some of the articles I scanned. I don't bother to find it again.

I remember her from her early days in "Burden of Proof". I watched that back in the days. When she started at FOX I couldn't believe what kind of narratives she got away with. I started to doubt my own intelligence believing she was somewhat ok before in her Burden of Proof show. What came afterwards was so stunning to me, I didn't know anymore why I found her ok before. I mean ... no comment.

I haven't watched ever either FOX News nor CNN news for years and years since years and years. It's better for my health. Btw, she had a nice salary of 900,000.00 dollars a year and Rachel Maddow supported her. In this bio there are more of juicy little tidbits of her life, you never wanted to know to begin with. But heh, nothing gets over a little bit of eeny, meeny gossip. What else is wrong in media land?

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:22am

This is blowing up all over the place as we speak.

Donald Trump Responds to Mika B and Joe S

Wow! It gets more and more interesting since based on his own Tweet, the President appears to be confirming there was some discussion about the National Enquirer article but according to him it was initiated by a call from Scarborough to him. This is denied by Scarborough who has he has texts and phone records that support his version.

Mediaite also covers the National Enquirer response which is basically they don't know anything about interactions between the White House and J&M regarding the story.

IMO Trump has hoisted himself yet again on his off the wall tweets. Really, can't we start considering them to be cries for help from a man who no longer wants to hold office?

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by Dr. John Carpenter on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 11:56am

Cries no one will answer.

@Phoebe Loosinhouse I subscribe to the theory that Trump hadn't intended to win, that this run was just WWE style bluster for building the brand. the problem for him, us and the country as a whole is that notTrump is the Democratic strategy going forward. Specifically Trump + Russia = baaaad, as @Steven D points out. The Democrats need to keep that impeachment pot at a steady boil, but can't risk it boiling over to actual impeachment. Mike Pense is a million times worse than Trump, but he doesn't make nearly as good of a villain, plus Republicans squeamish on Trump will probably rally around him.

—

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 10:45am

OMG - JS "Updated NBC Execs in Real Time About Blackmail"

JOe Scarborough: I updated NBC Executives 'In Real Time' About Alleged White House Blackmailing

“NBC execs knew in real time about the calls and who made them to me,” Scarborough told RedState. “That’s why Mark Kornblau wrote about contemporaneous texts. I showed him and executives as they were coming in to keep them advised.”

Smart move by Joe Scarborough to bring in the network honchos on this as it occurred.

I'm sorry, I think this is history in the making a la Watergate. Hopefully the timeline will be a lot shorter.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by ggersh on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 11:41am

As much as I despise the commander in tweet

@Phoebe Loosinhouse the next in line scares me more, Pence doesn't
rhyme with dense for nothing.

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 1:44pm

He scares the Hell out of my too.

@ggersh

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by ggersh on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 4:32pm

Religious fanaticism

@Amanda Matthews at this point in time will only add to the
hysterical dysfunction of what is amerika the exceptional.

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 2:42pm

And his warped and dysfunctional

@ggersh
attitude toward women is s real problem. That a 'religious' based mental defect right there.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by ggersh on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 4:31pm

Without a doubt he's

@Amanda Matthews @Amanda Matthews mentally challenged in every way possible.

her heinous fucked us royally by cheating Bernie and
the people while leaving us with the ignorant commander in tweet.

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by Ellen North on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 10:00pm

@ggersh

@ggersh

On the plus side, the Mad Bomber isn't yet playing with the nuclear warheads and Her fucking us over hasn't yet been fatal.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by ggersh on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 7:54am

"Yet" being the keyword

@Ellen North @Ellen North
it's

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by Ellen North on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 10:30am

@ggersh

@ggersh

Lol, yeah, Hillary certainly 'gets things done' as far as killing large groups of people and overthrowing democratically elected governments in order to further enrich The Right Corporate Interests And Billionaires (with large cake-crumbs tossed down to Herself from Her paymasters) goes.

Trump is less efficient and focused more on the personal enrichment end than the enjoyment over other people's horrible deaths part which, sadly, has been our saving grace - so far.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by edg on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 12:41pm

TDS?

@Phoebe Loosinhouse

Watergate? Impeachment? Sounds like a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 1:14pm

I guess I retain my naive and somewhat touching ability

@edg

to be capable of shock and disbelief when confronted by outrageous behavior by elected officials and to still think that some vestige of our political and legal systems will respond appropriately.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by edg on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:31pm

The only thing different about Trump...

@Phoebe Loosinhouse

is that he's doing it publicly via Twitter. Do you think Bush, Jr. and his minions didn't threaten reporters that failed to jump on the Iraq War bandwagon? I suspect almost every office-holder has directly or indirectly threatened a member of the media at one point or another.

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:52pm

Whether any or all previous officeholders

@edg

threatened or intimidated media is a moot point to me, and doesn't provide cover for Trump or any future President to continue the tradition. At least they seem to have done it covertly, which is as it should be. People doing bad things normally do them in the shadows. As you point out, Trump does it openly. When our faces are rubbed into such objectionable practices and we don't object, we are giving our tacit approval.

"They all do it" is sentence designed to promote resignation and cynicism and acceptance of a world that is not as it should be, whether we recognize it as such or not. If this country needs to do one thing, it's to regain its ability to be disgusted and outraged.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by edg on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 9:19pm

Disagree.

@Phoebe Loosinhouse @Phoebe Loosinhouse

At least they seem to have done it covertly, which is as it should be.

No, it shouldn't be done at all.

When our faces are rubbed into such objectionable practices and we don't object, we are giving our tacit approval.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

"They all do it" is sentence designed to promote resignation and cynicism and acceptance of a world that is not as it should be

On the contrary, it's an acknowledgement of evil. I'd say your approach is promoting resignation and cynicism and acceptance. By only attacking Trump, you're diluting the effect. It's NOT okay when your favorite does it and you excuse or ignore it. Only holding those you dislike to account is not the best way to combat evil.

Submitted by lotlizard on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 1:20am

“I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you,

@edg
to discover intimidation emanating from the executive branch.”

Who remembers JFK’s tactics against the steel industry?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/jfks-dangerous-playbook-f...

“Do you know what you’re doing when you start bucking the power of the President of the United States?” [JFK] said, according to Fay’s memoir The Pleasure of His Company. “I don’t think US Steel or any other of the major steel companies wants to have Internal Revenue agents checking all the expense accounts of their top executives. Do you want the government to go back to hotel bills the time you were in Schenectady to find out who was with you? Hotel bills...nightclub expenses?”

The bludgeoning was way outside the bounds of how the White House is supposed to use its power. It also worked. Three days after his Oval Office visit, US Steel head Blough announced that the price increase had been rescinded, and other companies immediately followed. There was fallout, to be sure. Relations with the business community turned chilly for the rest of Kennedy’s tenure; Republican media outlets—Time, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Herald-Tribune all were harshly critical. (JFK got so annoyed with the Trib that he ordered the 22 White House subscriptions cancelled.)

But the full extent of what the White House did never became public at the time, and a solidly Democratic Congress had no interest in looking into the use of such blunt instruments.

If there were any second thoughts inside the Administration, they were clearly not in evidence at a Kennedy family gathering. Ben Bradlee’s Conversations With Kennedy has the President jovially recounting a talk with Republic Steel chief James Patton, with Patton asking JFK “why is it that all the telephone calls of the steel executives in all the country are being tapped…why is it that the income tax returns of all the steel executives in the country are being scrutinized?”

Submitted by native on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 2:25pm

I'm not enthusiastic about the idea

@Phoebe Loosinhouse
of trying to unseat a US President on account of some petty quarrel with a popular teevee host. For the same reason I did not agree with efforts to impeach Clinton because of his blatant sexual indiscretions. IMO these kinds of misbehavior do not rise to the level of being important matters of State. They may provide a convenient excuse to dispense with a President one despises for other reasons, but to focus public attention on them in the way that impeachment proceedings inevitably do, is to distract attention from far more important matters.

Besides which, even if Trump were to somehow be removed from office, that would not improve the nation's long term prospects much, if at all. In fact it might make them even worse.

—

native

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:01pm

A petty quarrel?

@native
In which an administration is (allegedly) attempting to either bribe, muzzle or threaten media personalities with its power to control a tabloid expose?

Our definitions of "petty" are different here. You may not find this significant, but I do.
To me, some behaviors are acceptable or unacceptable on their face. Plus, when we accept or gloss over smaller transgressions, why would we be surprised when we end up with the bigger ones as a result?

I respect your opinion even though I disagree with it.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by native on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:17pm

Same here.

@Phoebe Loosinhouse
I respect your opinion even though I disagree with it.

—

native

Submitted by edg on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 9:21pm

On the other hand...

@Phoebe Loosinhouse

there are reports that Trump was right. It was Mornin' Joe that called Kushner and tried to get the National Enquirer story about Joe and Mika's affair quashed.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 11:41am

Unsurprising, to be honest.

Politicians threaten journalists and citizens all the time, but it's usually those without power of any kind. And if you think they dont, and believe that they only use the carrot to influence stories, you're far more idealistic and optimistic than me.

So they feel like Trump is strong arming them... I'd like to know where all these stories about media silencing attempts were during ACTUAL attempts like standing rock and ows. Oh right, it's only bad if trump does it crudely and obviously.

Pardon my cynicism, but I feel either nothing will come of this, as usual, or somehow this will be used to pressure trump into another military action, because morons always respond with violence.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by lizzyh7 on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 12:48pm

Good point.

@detroitmechworks Start a full ground invasion in Syria and this all goes Poof....

—

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 1:04pm

Lori Klausutis

Google if you want to know more about the likely expose.

Personally, I don't have a problem with this. They're all public figures. Why should the mudslinging all go one way?

—

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Submitted by CS in AZ on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:16pm

Nope, it's not about that old story

@Not Henry Kissinger

The enquirer ran the story. It's about - gasp - Mika and Joe had an affair! Yes, it seems they started seeing each other before they got divorced from their respective spouses and got engaged. Can you believe it?

The National Enquirer Goes After Mika And Joe For ‘Sleazy Cheating Scandal

The story reports that Joe and Mika “started hooking up while married to other people.”
The mag says the couple has been “sneaking around” since 2013.
It also purports that the couple “rushed into an engagement after our investigation threatened to expose their illicit affair.”

The National Enquirer admits to threatening them in its own report.

“Screw it, run it,” Mika said, describing their attitude about it.
And well, the tabloid took her up on that.

Oh. My. Whatevah will they do? This is completely silly.

Trump is very good at creating uproar and massive distraction, I'll give him that. I don't think he's doing it with any strategy or goal in mind, he just loves attention and chaos and drama. Which it happens is quite helpful in diverting attention from anything of real importance.

Submitted by Big Al on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 2:19pm

Just a slight correction, Morning Joe does not cover

the news, it spreads the fake news. On that, Trump is absolutely correct. Those two are as despicable as any on the tv.

Submitted by Johnny Q on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:06pm

How much of a threat is a National Enquirer story anyway?

Does it involve Joe and Mika's alien baby?

—

They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway
They say that life's a game and then they take the board away
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
And leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret-- A. Moore

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:24pm

That's actually an excellent point.

@Johnny Q

I guess the people making the threat/inducement would find it a threat/inducement or at least hope so, but the more important part of the equation is whether the recipient considers it the same. Leverage isn't leverage unless it provides leverage.

You would think that Joe and Mika would have known that their in-the-public-eye romance would invite tabloid coverage and would have been expecting it, no?

Since Joe and Mika did not visibly change their public vociferous disapproval of Trump, can one conclude that it wasn't a successful threat/inducement and that they did not do the requisite ring-kissing? Plus, apparently the story appeared anyway, so if it was a shakedown, it wasn't a successful one.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by Ellen North on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 4:18pm

@Johnny Q

@Johnny Q

How much of a threat is a National Enquirer story anyway?

Does it involve Joe and Mika's alien baby?

Threesome with Elvis, but it backfired and Elvis carried the child.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by orlbucfan on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:30pm

They don't have a word in American English

for just how low the commander-in-twit actually is. Just another crummy day in Paradise was the day he was hatched on us. Rec'd!!

—

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

Submitted by earthling1 on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 3:36pm

When you have a bunch of praying mantises in a bubble

they soon begin to eat each other.
The feeding frenzy began 1/20/2017.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by doh1304 on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 8:48pm

A theory not to be taken seriously.

The threatening calls came from Mike Pence, using borrowed NSA software to make it looklike they came from someone else. He is (secretly) behind the impeachment to become president so that he can start the inquisition and bring about Armageddon.

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On to Biden since 1973

Submitted by edg on Fri, 06/30/2017 - 9:25pm

You left out an important element.

@doh1304

Vlad Putin is helping Pence in the coup attempt because Trump hasn't been as successful at covering up Hillary's massive fail in the election -- oops, that was a typo -- I mean Russian hacking of the election.